Reaper no Hi
by Alexandrorca
Summary: "Someone shut that screamer up." "Oh, that's the new guy, right? The one who came in with Pi- Face?" "If he's always this broken, he won't last long as a reaper. I hope not, anyway." (sequel to Yuki NoYouni Shiroi)
1. The Screamer

I recommend first finishing: s/6172213/1/Yuki-Noyouni-Shiroi

"Joshie, Joshie, old gray lady, kick him where it hurts or catch his crazy!"

The kindergartner endured the punches and kicks with his best efforts to mask his pain.

He couldn't remember how this started, actually. One day they were all shy new five-year-olds; the next, everyone had made friends while Joshua was left alone. He spent his recesses by the forest edge-a shady area far beyond the playground and fields. Every day was a race-could Joshua sneak past his classmates to his corner without them noticing? Sometimes.

Today was not one of those days.

Joshua dug his teeth into his lower lip to stop the tears that threatened his pride, but the added pain only released them.

"He's crying _again_?"

"What a baby."

"Maybe if he cries loud enough his ghosts will come save him."

This brought a new chorus of laughs from the children.

"Leave him alone." Joshua looked through his tear-blurred vision to see his savior.

Oh. It was just the quiet kid from Class C.

"What'd you say?" All the bullies turned to look at the kid.

The boy looked for a moment as if he had lost his nerve, then he glared at them and took a step forward. "Leave. Him. Alone."

The other kids laughed again.

It was quite a noble attempt, but the boy was just scrawny as Joshua. And, for some reason, beating up Joshua was an equal-opportunity activity. Much older kids, kids who didn't even know Joshua other than as a recess punching bag, had been joining in since Day One. This new kid didn't stand a chance.

Two kindergartners went home with bloody noses and black eyes that day.

"My hero. Not." Joshua brushed the dust off his miniature suit once the whistle summoned the bullies back inside.

Blood dripped from the boy's face as his disbelief faded into cold resentment. He shakily rose to his feet and limped away. Joshua wanted to apologize, but the boy wouldn't even acknowledge Joshua anymore and stayed away for recesses long after.

At least, until the mural appeared.

Joshua discovered it while hiding from his nanny. She would never think to check somewhere as shabby as the back streets of Udagawa, so he'd hoped.

He wasn't a frequent visitor to the parts, but his five years were enough experience to signal that the giant wall of vibrant graffiti had not been there before.

It was mesmerizing.

Joshua felt that he could spend hours alone in front this mural, noticing different scenes and colors and how they all played together beautifully. But he wasn't alone.

"Did you do this?" He said to that quiet boy from Class C.

The shake of the boy's head was almost imperceptible as he crept closer to admire the wall. "I wish." He said softly. He slowly reached out a hand to touch the mural, as if he was afraid his touch what cause it to disappear. The boy didn't seem too keen on talking to Joshua as usual, so the silver-haired boy stared at the mural in silence.

The next day, Joshua seized his chance to apologize: "I'm sorry about those jerks, and that I was so rude." It was hard for Joshua to even muster up the courage to say such words, but the little stinker kept his gaze straight ahead.

"I did it because I thought we could be friends." The boy said, now choosing to stare at the ground.

The boys said nothing else to each other that day, but the next day, Joshua awaited him with a grin. "Very well, I accept your offer. You now have the honor of being friends with the mighty and awesome Joshua Kiryu."

The boy gaped at him for a few moments, then unleashed the first smile Joshua had ever seen from him. It was nice, this boy's smile.

"You don't know how to make friends, do you?"

Take it back. That smile is evil.

"Don't be dumb. Of course I do."

"Friendship isn't some offer or deal you make."

Joshua glared with his hands on his hips. "It can be whatever I want it to be." This only earned a laugh from the other boy, who failed to mention his only source of friendship knowledge stemmed from cartoons. "Well, if you're so smart, how _do_ you make friends?" Joshua said with a pout.

The boy thought hard. "You do stuff together. Fun stuff you both like. And you help each other out, and do nice things for each other."

"Well, you did try to help me, AND we know we both like the mural. Looks like we're going to be great friends."

"Yeah." The boy plopped down on the curb, and though his eyes never left the vivid paint, a smile still graced his lips. "It's Neku, by the way. Neku Sakuraba."

The Kiryu's quickly expressed their disapproval of Neku, who was too poor, too dirty, too… Artsy? Joshua knew his parents were just making excuses, but they soon made him switch schools in an attempt to separate the boys. Yet, Joshua continued to meet up with Neku multiple times a week.

To make matters worse, Joshua continued to be a target at every school he was sent to. His parents were understandably flummoxed at teacher's insistence "he makes it so easy, he's just a creepy child."

Well that didn't cut it for this family, and soon they hired a private tutor for their boy.

Meanwhile, Joshua listened to his friend's insistence that friends do nice things for each other. When his parents bought him one of those new MP3 players for his birthday, it went straight into Neku's eager hands. He was thrilled, he couldn't even believe all of his tapes could be gathered into one tiny machine.

Neku treasured the gift, often bringing his music along with him to the mural. There the boys would sit, watching the paint dance before their eyes with one earbud per child.

But today, Neku's music was particularly loud and obnoxious. When Joshua asked him turn it down, Neku instead tried out a new feature in which he could play two songs at one time. But the two tracks didn't really layer well, and Joshua wanted it to stop. Instead, Neku added another song, and turned up the volume even higher. Joshua ripped the earbud from his head, scolded Neku for teasing him. Instead, his comments were drowned by the sound of Neku adding another and another and still more… Joshua stared dumbfounded at the useless bud in his hand until the pain forced him to drop it and tear at his hair. Why was Neku adding more songs?

Could he not hear Joshua over this racket? Wasn't it bothering Neku? And how was this music inside Joshua's mind? How, ow, why?

Now he was screaming, demanding Neku to stop, stop, please stop Neku, Neku, no stop-

"Someone shut that screamer up."

"Oh, that's the new guy, right? The one who came in with Pi- Face?"

"If he's always this broken, he won't last long as a reaper. I hope not, anyway."


	2. Wings

Wings

Joshua would like to say the first thing he saw in this new life was a pair of black leathery wings. He'd always loved a more dramatic story. Instead, the first thing that entered his newly restored field of vision was a pair of shiny black pumps. His eyes traveled up the legs and yes, wings to meet the cold face of the stern blonde reaper woman who stood over him. Other winged men and women watched the scene from a distance.

She was talking to him, perhaps shouting something now, but no words came out of her mouth. There was no way he could hear her over this cacophony of music. He wanted to convey this to her, perhaps dryly observe the irony that he had lost his hearing as he had regained his sight. But that commentary wasn't quite so accurate, because it wasn't that he couldn't hear. Oh, he could hear so many sounds, the blaring of this distasteful music of thousands of kinds of lunacy. He could barely pick out one melody from another, although one song would grow faintly stronger whenever a particular person approached him.

Though he recognized no faces, the way the confusion of the reapers melted into what appeared to be taunts and catcalls was quite familiar to the boy. He wanted to respond, but it seemed he wasn't able to form words. He was dimly aware of someone screaming over the din of the music, and eventually occurred to him that the screamer was himself. But he couldn't stop.

This seemed to go on for a few days. Reapers would continuously approach him, and he tried to communicate as well, but neither party was successful.

He felt himself fading. He didn't know how to be a reaper, and he did not know what he was supposed to do. But apparently, he was doing something wrong, because his fingertips had dissolved into static. He could not hear the static sound, but there was no mistaking the sight that usually accompanied erasure that was slowly spreading across his new reaper body.

He was being erased.

The one who approached him the most was the tall reaper with the charcoal-colored hair. This one had an almost comforting tone to his barbaric rap music, yet Joshua had no idea who this reaper was. He wondered vaguely if this reaper may be Sho, but he couldn't focus on the situation long enough to figure such an issue out.

That is, until this dark-haired reaper carried him away through the sewers, out past Hachiko, and into the streets of Shibuya. As they ran, Joshua noticed they were walking through people. And he was being quickly overwhelmed by the shriller tunes stabbing him as he walked through them. Walking… Through…

He awoke to the familiar scent of freshly-brewed Wild Kat coffee. He was seated in his favorite café, his legs sticking uncomfortably to the plastic as they always did on a hot day. Mr. H was before him. Joshua wanted to jump for joy, but apparently would have to settle for screaming instead, because every step Mr. H took made one particular strain of music louder and louder. His music was unlike any of the others- as if daggers were piercing his head as this music strained to make itself heard among its inferiors. And Mr. H had wings, white fluffy angel wings straight out of a children's picture Bible. Joshua screamed again and flailed about, catching sight of his palm that had disappeared into static.

Mr. H affixed a pin to his shirt. The wings disappeared, and the screaming stopped.


	3. The Coffee Wasn't Even That Good

"Wow, J, you're just one big crazy bowlful of irony, ain't cha?"

The wings were gone, but then, so was the music. It was finally silent in Joshua's head, silent but for the words of Mr. Hanekoma. Joshua chose to drown those out in favor of basking in the disappearance of the discordant noises. He focused on his sight, which he was extremely grateful to possess. He could see that next to Mr. H, drumming his fingers on the table impatiently, was the teenage reaper dressed all in black. Black shirt, black jeans, black cap; along with his greasy gray hair and dark skin, there was little color on this animated boy.

"Sho?" Joshua asked tentatively.

The reaper grinned toothily. "The one and only, radian." Joshua smiled back.

"I can tell when I'm being ignored." Mr. H laughed.

Joshua turned his gaze back to his mentor, distrust evident in his eyes. "What happened to your wings?"

Mr. H stared back at him, cool and composed. "What are you talking about, J?"

"You saw them too, didn't you, Sho?" Sho shook his head. Joshua frowned. "I saw them. Right before you put the pin on, I saw them." Joshua's insistence reminded himself of the many years he spent trying to convince those around him of what he saw. But usually, Mr. H supported him. Apparently, that was no longer the case.

"I think the strain was causing you to experience hallucinations, J," Mr. H said softly.

"No! It wasn't a hallucination. It was-… _they_ were real."

Sho looked concerned. "He gonna be okay?"

Mr. H took a long swig of coffee. "Not sure. No other reaper has heard Shibuya's music. Really, it would have driven most insane. So I don't know what the after effects will be, even though he can no longer hear it."

"Yeah, okay, can someone explain what the factor is going on now?"

Joshua looked at Mr. H from the corner of his eye, still angry as the man began. "Joshua has always been able to perceive more than those around him. As a regular kid, he could see the wings of reapers and even Noise and Players."

"Wait, wait. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, you serious?" Mr. H nodded in reply.

"I suppose it makes sense that now that he is a reaper, his senses reach even farther. Shibuya's music-how do I explain this…? Every person, every thing, every city, is made of soul. If you think of each individual soul as a melody, then a city as big as Shibuya is just full of songs all competing to be the loudest. This is the Noise that has been attacking J since he became a reaper-"

"-And it's gone now because of another pin." Joshua finished for him, tracing circles on the smooth surface of the black and green pin.

"That's right. Now, I wanted to let you know that this pin also… "Mr. H trailed off as he noticed Joshua attempt to stand. Sho took another step closer to his partner as the boy sank loosely back into the chair. "Always the impatient one, J."

"What in infinity did you do to him?" Sho accused.

Mr. H raised his hands in mock defense. "Hey, hey, lay off the barista. S'not my fault. Not J's either. To stop the music, this pin suppresses all of his abilities as a reaper. J, you're basically a player with a reaper's responsibilities in a body way too woozy from this frequent gain and loss of power you've experienced the past few weeks. That's gotta suck."

"So, he does or doesn't have to hunt for players?"

"What?" Joshua was struggling to understand. He finally got a good look at Sho. What he had him thought were just strange decorations on his black combat boots Joshua now realized were patches of static starting at Sho's toes. "You too…" He muttered.

"What, looking at my pretty zetta fuzzies?" Mr. H snorted into his cup from the ridiculousness of the statement, but Joshua continued to stare at Sho waiting for him to respond to the younger boy's confusion. "Yeah, you missed a lot, J. S'pose it was hard to hear over all of that music or whatever. So, guess what? No one told us that in order to be reapers you've got quotas. Players you gotta erase. Otherwise zetta fuzzies spread all over us and we get erased instead."

Joshua found himself staring at Mr. H again. He wasn't too happy with his friend today. "Strange. You failed to mention that when you were telling us all the perks of being a reaper."

"I don't pretend to know everything, Josh." Mr. H said with a shrug. "I do have to warn you 'bout something though."

Joshua crossed his arms. He was feeling quite done with revelations.

"They're looking for you. I can't say much, but any second without any warning you could be whisked away to the trial. Just thought you should know."

"What radians?"

"What trial?" The boys said at the same time.

But Mr. H had no intention of answering either question. He began to shuffle them out the door, reminding "well, boys, it's almost closing time. Normally I'd let you stay in and chat but since you're not paying me I gotta be a bit harsh. Besides, I've got a hot date tonight and I need time to get ready. So you boys be on your way. Have fun erasing players and all that."

And with that, the doors of the WildKat Café were shut, and a big fat "sorry, we're closed" post suddenly appeared through the frosted glass windows.

"Well that was surprisingly infuriating. Now what?" Joshua threw his hands up in the air, trying not to let the betrayal escape onto his face.

"Guess we fill some quotas."


	4. Scared

"You sure about this, J?"

Joshua could sense the unease in his partner's voice as they looked over the railing at the squabbling pair of Players below. But what he saw was not a couple of pre-teens arguing over a mission; Joshua pictured every "innocent child" that had made his life miserable. Every ordinary person that thought he was insane, that never believed him. And the one he thought was his most trusted friend, the only one he looked up to in this world, had just denounced him as crazy as well. Yes, he was quite certain about erasing players in order to ensure the survival of two of the only three people that still mattered to him-one of those being himself.

"Just think of them as irritating Noise," Joshua muttered. Sho glanced at his partner in confusion, but Joshua only shook his head with a smirk and raced down the stairs. "So zetta slow," he called teasingly up to his partner.

"Are you out of your vector?" Sho called. Within seconds he was at the silver-haired boy's side, but he was no longer human. "Factoring hectopascal forgets he's just a Player…"

"What you want me to do, jump on?"

"You did once. It was pretty badass."

Joshua now eyed the creature before him with as much wariness as Sho displayed earlier. It was a large, powerful beast comprised of the same tattoos that decorated all the Noise. What really bothered Joshua though were those glowing red eyes that looked nothing like those of his partner. And the wings… Sho had four wings jutting off his back like some strange leonine insect. Needless to say, this did not look like a very safe ride.

"You know, I really thought you were a Tiger." Joshua observed dryly asked he climbed up on Sho's back.

"What, is my mane not cool enough for you?"

"I'm afraid not."

Cool manes or not, they were apparently still intimidating enough to earn a satisfying scream from one of the boys, who promptly hid behind the partner he had been berating mere moments before.

Joshua smirked before calling out, "that's just sad."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Oh my, what a bad mouth you've got there."

"Leave us alone, losers." The other boy whimpered from behind his partner. "We need to go solve the mystery at Spain Hill."

"Spain Hill, huh? Hey, J, how about we play a game?"

"Sure, shoot." Joshua grinned.

"Let's see who can erase these yoctograms faster. Loser buys the winner a dog over at Spain Hill."

Joshua shrugged. "Normally I'd prefer ramen, but I'll accept your challenge. Joshua tried to ignore the fur that shook beneath his body despite their banter. Was Sho… Afraid? But of what?

"…Are you Reapers? One of the boys called timidly

"Damn straight."

Sho pounced on the boys, and they were thrust into the noise plane.

Joshua seemed to be alone, but he could still feel his partner in the parallel dimension. And, every so often, the raging tattooed lion would enter his plane, wreak havoc, and then disappear. Joshua tried to switch levels as well, but it seemed his Player state left him grounded. Likewise, without the heart pin they used to basically hack the last game, Joshua could not leave the ground.

"Shame." He said to himself as he pressed buttons on his phone in boredom.

The boy ran about shouting all manner of curses and prayers, but Joshua really wasn't paying that much attention. If anything, most of his energy was spent on analyzing the situation in order to best determine a strategy. He was barely cognizant of the barrier of objects he put up to block the projectiles the boy occasionally threw his way.

Sho began to appear with lessening frequency, and Joshua sensed he was engaged in battle with the boy who wielded a pin like a sword. Sho seemed to have the upper hand, but then the boy before Joshua did… Something. He pulled out a pin that turned into an energy drink. Before Joshua could make some comment about "this is not the time for refreshments", Or something else witty like that, both Players both began to attack with newfound ferocity.

Joshua dodged, finding it much easier to be quick on his feet now that he could see the opponent. In fact, dodging seemed to be a bit fun. He danced around the boy, occasionally blinding him with the flash of his phone's camera so that he could slink behind him. But the boy held on tight to that energy drink pin, and Joshua finally cemented his strategy.

"The boy in my plane," He said in Sho's mind. "Seems to be some sort of healer. I suggest we take him out first."

In response, Sho suddenly appeared behind the Player, claws bared, screaming "INFINITY!" On top of his lungs. As the Player in the other plane grappled with the copious amount of Noise that Sho left for him to deal with, this boy cowered. Joshua swiftly took this opportunity to bombard the child with all manner of bicycles and traffic signs and whatever else he could drop on him.

The Player spent too much time avoiding the objects and walked right into the leonine reaper. Static.

Sho stood still, breathless.

"Well. We could wait the seven minutes, or we could make sure we filled that quota." Joshua played with his hair.

Sho ran to him. "Get on," he said gruffly.

With the help of his partner, Joshua was able to travel to the other plane. There the other player stood, clearly aware of the loss of his own partner. "What… Did you do?!" The boy suddenly charged both of them, sword in hand. Unfortunately, the boy was too distracted by his anger to notice the 18-wheeler levitating a few feet from his head. More static, and the Reapers were returned to the UG.

Only one of them was pleased.

"I think I need three showers." Sho exclaimed.

Joshua stared him in confusion, still reveling in their victory. "What do you mean?"

"You think I liked that?"

 _Didn't you?_ Joshua thought to himself. He did. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Sho pulled his hat tighter on his head. "First, outer, inner, last. What choice do I have? I did this so I could protect my little brother."

"And you can."

"Yeah, but now if I don't completely iterate other people, kids no older than him, he'll have no one. I could've-we could have chosen life. If we'd known, if that hectopascal of a shop owner hadn't lied to us-"

"don't talk about Mr. Hanekoma." Joshua said icily.

But Sho had no problem with continuing his rant. "How can I even face him? 'Hey big bro, hey Sho, what awesome stuff did you do today? Did you have fun at work today?' Because that's what they think, you know. Jun and Minamimoto, they think I'm just factoring around in the city all day and droppin' off yen to keep their asses alive. Minamimoto even said the other day I was probably somebody's hitman. Guess that is all I am. Hitman for people who were already dead. No, I'm worse than a hitman. 'Least they can quit without getting a case of the zetta fuzzies. We're fucked up, radian. We're just straight up fucked."

"So that's it then. We wait and mope around and curse ourselves while the "zetta fuzzies" cover our bodies because we're too soft to erase another player. Is this why you hadn't erased anyone before I stopped hearing the music? You are so afraid of what other people think of you? Well too bad. You are a reaper now. People will think of you as a reaper. If I were you, I would start getting used to it."

"I didn't sign up for this."

"Didn't you, though? We can blame whomever we wish, but it still doesn't change the fact we should've known what we were getting into. We had seen reapers erase players. I've certainly seen my fair share of them. It's not too hard to realize that this is a reaper's job. Now, stop whining." Sho gaped at him. "We could be idiotic reapers too afraid to keep themselves alive, or we could be amazing reapers who everyone fears. Look what a great team we made back there. We could be like that every week. We could be better than that stupid snake we fought, even. You're my partner. Start acting like it."

"Slabs Of Ham, Celery And Horseradish, Tons Of Asparagus."

Joshua stopped his pacing. "What on earth…?"

"SOH CAH TOA. Never mind. Are you really only 10 years old? Guess this game ages you quick."

Joshua continued waiting for Sho to say something of value. Was that mean? Did it really matter if it was mean?

"You know, I think you should meet him. Yeah, I am gonna take you to him. And I'm gonna tell him what I'm doing. As much as he'll understand. You're not busy, right?"

"Well, considering I've only been consciously a reaper for a few hours I haven't really had time to make plans." Joshua sighed. Was an introduction truly necessary?

"Great. Jun's going to love you."


	5. Fish Magnet

But Joshua would not know whether or not Jun Minamimoto would love him or not, because the boys' journey back to Cat Street was interrupted by a beep. Joshua was pleased to discover that his ringtone had been restored to its former glory.

"What do these zetta sons of digits want now?" They each checked their phones, Joshua hiding masking his excitement over the fact he could actually read it now.

"Is it really necessary to go to some silly reaper Reaper meeting?" Joshua crossed his arms.

The moment Joshua finished his sentence, their phones beeped once more. "Yes," was their texted answer.

"That's not creepy at all."

Sho looked disappointed. "Well, we'll just sit in the back and ignore everybody, an' be first to leave so we can go see my brother afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan." Joshua nodded.

Of course, Joshua did not intend for this plan to include tromping a trek through Shibuya's sewers.

He also did not intend to get some sort of sludge on his jeans, once again ruining another outfit in the name of the Reaper' s Game. "The things I do for you all…" Joshua muttered. Sho looked concerned at the out-of-place comment, but Joshua waved it away. "Well, that's interesting."

At the end of the gross, dirty sewer tunnel was a large ornate door. It had a black wood base smothered by white painted metal curlicues and other elegant designs. The center of the door contained an outline of the Player's pin. It was impressive, to be sure, but a bit too much for Joshua's taste.

Sho lifted the wrought iron latch, and the boys caught the tail end of a speech, "… Refining the greatest souls and imaginations of Shibuya before sending them back into the world to improve everything that they touch- that is the goal of the Reaper's Game. And as Reapers, it is our job to guide the most worthy to this equally wonderful point. As your new Conductor, I will do my best to secure this purpose effectively and efficiently. I aim to immediately begin by cleaning up the messes left behind by my predecessor who neglected…"

But 25 pairs of eyes suddenly stopped paying attention to their new supervisor as the two greenhorn Reapers shuffled into the room.

"… Pi-Face… "

"Look who finally shut up…"

"… The Screamer…"

"… Can't be them, they are both so dead quiet…"

" right now…'course they're late…"

"…Hey Pi-Face, what is a "hectopascal" anyway?"

"… Let's give the kid something to scream about later…"

Joshua shuddered as the last sentence hit him like a minivan. Sure, he was used to torment. But these weren't kids, these were ageless Reapers who could actually back up their threats. With those wings, they could scratch him just by turning whipping around. He didn't want to know what their noise forms or their psychs were either.

"Keep your head up, J. Keep your zetta friggen head up." Sho muttered as he led him to the back of the room. Joshua nodded, yet for once lacking a snarky retort.

He needed something else to focus on, and but the reaper who they were now apparently supposed to refer to as "Mr. Kitaniji" was too insipid to hold his attention. Although, he was somewhat entertained when Sho leaned over and whispered in his ear "Mr. Kitaniji? Nah, think I'll just call him Megs." Joshua giggled, and then decided to evaluate the room before him..

At first he watched the fish below the glass. As they entered the room, Joshua had noticed little pockets of the fish scattered throughout the room under the seats of a few Reapers. But when Joshua and Sho walked in, all the fish swarmed under them like insects on decaying flesh. Yuck, where did that morbid analogy come from? Well, anyway, the fish were fun to play with. Joshua amused himself for a few moments by lightly stepping back and forth across the glass floor, watching the fish trace his every move to the sound of Sho's stifled laughter. This earned them a few glares, and particularly from the blonde Reaper from the other day.

Bored of the fish, Joshua chose to observe the ridiculously decorated room instead. It looked as if he had walked into a Gothic dollhouse with a bit of a Japanese touch. Extravagant white furniture dotted the room, all choked by lace. Porcelain dolls served as sentries for the reapers in various spots of the room, many of them geishas. Throughout it all, there was far too much lace. Even the occasional vase of orchids was covered in black lace as it rested on a doily.

Joshua took issue with whoever had designed this room. If he had his way, it would look a bit more… Classy.

"Kiryu. Minamimoto. Glad to see you've decided to join us AND hold your tongues." Joshua returned his attention to the meeting, which was apparently over. In fact, even the chairs were gone, having disappeared with the snap of Kitaniji's fingers. Most of the reapers had vanished as well, with only a few still loitering to chat.

Joshua and Sho found themselves face-to-face with the stern Reaper. "Mitsuki." Sho said.

"That's Ms. Mitsuki to you." The woman replied coldly. "And I did not appreciate the jokes you made while our Conductor was speaking. You will show more respect to your superiors."

"Perhaps I will when I learn who they are and if they are deserving." Joshua replied with equal frigidity.

"Do you know who I am, you inconsiderable chimp?"

Joshua shrugged and began playing with his hair in mock boredom.

"I am your superior. I am Konishi Mitsuki, the officer in charge of all new reapers. And you WILL listen to me."

"Charmed." Joshua replied.

"I predict you will always be this insufferable. Wonderful. Minamimoto, I am glad to see that you have finally decided to stick around and erase a player. As annoying as you two both may be, we could always use some new, highly imaginative reapers to further our Lady Composer's vision."

Sho nodded, but he had also randomly nodded after the word "always" so he was probably only pretending to pay attention.

"And as for you, Kiryu." Mitsuki said, "I trust you will now be fully functional?"

"Of course." Joshua smirked.

Mitsuki smiled, but even the smile was cold and emotionless. Calculating, even. "Excellent. Then, you know the drill. Work on filling your quotas unless we text you otherwise about a specific mission. Understood?"

Joshua responded with a mock salute, which probably wasn't the best idea, as Mitsuki punched him hard in the shoulder. His partner looked as if he were about to start a fight, but Joshua stopped him. After all, they were only new Reapers. What could they do against those who have had years to hone their strength and skills? Deserving of respect or not, the other Reapers such as Mitsuki were at least justified in calling themselves his superiors.

As they watched the blonde Reaper walk out the wrought-iron door, Sho cackled.

"She's as cold as the metal on that door, huh? Might as well call her the Iron Maiden."

Though the boys thought she was out of earshot, the Reaper officer turned back to send them one final glare before she slammed the door behind her. But the other reapers had heard the nickname as well; there was no going back now.

"So, Sho, didn't you want to introduce me to someone?"

Sho's smile grew wider. "Yeah, let's go!"

* * *

Honestly, Joshua was not too impressed with the child. He was no older than seven, and that was stretching it. He was cute, Joshua would give him that. But there was nothing… There. Nothing special, nothing interesting, nothing but those big, sparklingly friendly eyes leaping straight out of an anime.

But the worst part was that he was unspeakably happy.

"Josh-ee-wa," Jun called him. "It's so nice to meet my big brother's friend!"

"Yes, it is truly delightful to make the acquaintance of _das kinder_ I've waited approximately eons to ultimately encounter." The confusion in the boy's face was delicious.

Jun flashed an impossibly wide smile at his older brother. "Sho, your friend talks funny."

"Yeah, he's a weird binomial. But I guess I am too."

"Oh, he knows what a binomial is, does he?" Joshua said with a deprecatory smile.

Sho frowned. "Joshua, lay off my little bro."

Joshua ran a hand through his hair. "My apologies. I didn't mean to offend him. Did I offend you, Jun?" The little boy shook his head, the giant beam never leaving his face. "See? No hard feelings. I know we'll be great friends."

Before Sho could reply, Jun's annoying face faded from view, as did the rest of Cat Street.

* * *

Hello everyone. I do hope you're enjoying this little trip down memory lane with the Composer. Unfortunately, this is the last installment you might get for a while. I'm going on vacation, and if I'm bored enough and have enough time to do so I'll write, but most likely I won't. I'll try to have the next chapter out next week, but if I don't please don't waste your time checking for a new chapter until after the Fourth of July. Enjoy the nice summer weather, especially if like me you're staying inside and reading fan fiction.

**A note: despite my attempts to edit these chapters, every read-through shows me I apparently cannot speak English properly. If you see a glaring mistake, please let me know. I use a speech program since my neck injury prevents me from typing, and the damn thing always either misses important words like 'a' or 'of' or will repeat words. Thanks! Please enjoy, review, and I hope you will stick around to see what happens next after the Fourth!


	6. 5 Days

Really, Joshua thought he was done with all this "phasing out of consciousness" drivel. He wasn't a Player anymore, but he had no explanation for the fact that Sho's little brother had faded away into blinding white. He similarly lacked any reasoning for the current blackness surrounding him. He wasn't quite sure when the white had changed to black-in fact, he wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten here-wherever here was. Was this just a darkened Cat Street, or…

"Sho?" He called out in annoyance. He resented the familiarity of the situation. He really thought he was done with blindly calling out for his partner.

No answer. As he began to roam what seemed like endless darkness, he became able to make out the fuzzy outlines of a large object in the distance. Somewhat relieved, he realized he was not blind again; he had merely needed to grow used to the dimness.

The large object before him was wooden and smooth. It stretched out far in either direction. A stage. Two figures sat upon it.

"Well, if it ain't Wingless. Come to crash our party?" The man's wings twitched a bit as he leaned back to take a lick of his lollipop. Joshua glared at the mention of his new nickname.

"Kariya. Is this your doing?"

"Is _what_ my doing?" The man sounded genuinely confused, but Joshua still wasn't fully convinced. Before he could accuse him of anything more, Kariya added, "good thing you turned up though. All that whining from Mitsuki was getting on my nerves."

Joshua sighed. "You've got to be kidding me. We just erased some players a few hours ago. What more does she want from us?"

Kariya laughed. "Normally I don't care, but Mitsuki's been on everyone's ass for a few days now. She was way more upset than usual though, so I'm guessing it wasn't really about the fact the up-and-coming new reapers hadn't checked in for days. Most likely something going wrong with the higher-ups got all the officers spooked."

It took a few minutes for the many parts of this message sink in. "But we just saw her at the meeting today."

"A Reaper meeting? We haven't had one of those in about five days now." Those words hit Joshua like an elephant noise.

"J!" The loud sound of Sho's combat boots echoed across the concrete floor. "Finally found you, you zetta son 'a digit. I've been looking all over for you. Where's Jun?"

Joshua turned away from Kariya as the man returned to his lollipop. "Sho, how… Did we get here?"

"Beats me. You haven't seen him?" Just then, Sho finally noticed Kariya sitting atop the stage. "Who invited Lollipop?"

"'Sup, Pi-Face?" Kariya waved.

"Sho, you know we're not on Cat Street anymore, right?"

Sho frowned and tugged at his hat. "Yeah, I got that from the black infinity all around us. So what happened to Jun?"

"Guess he's still back on Cat Street?"

"I bet that coffee shop owner has something to do with this."

Joshua hadn't thought of that. Yes, he did remember something... He remembered wings. Wings on the backs of people he could only see out of the corner of his eye. Every time he turned to face them, they turned into vague blurs as if he seriously needed glasses. Was Mr. H with them? He had no way of knowing.

"Blame the higher-ups. They're leading us to despair." A voice called. Joshua turned to see Kariya's partner, Daisuke. Or, as everyone liked to call him, Doomy Dai. The newest Reaper before Sho and Joshua had appeared, Daisuke was known for pessimistic prattle about death and misery and misfortune. Not quite the happiest reaper to have around, but Kariya didn't seem to mind.

But… what about the higher-ups? Did his rambling actually hold some key to this hole in Joshua's mind?

"How?" Joshua's voice was flat and curt.

Kariya exchanged an indecipherable expression with Doomy and then shrugged.

"Not talking, are you?" Joshua tapped his foot impatiently.

Apparently not, as to break the stillness Doomy Daisuke began arguing with Sho over the mathematical possibilities and implications of the Apocalypse.

Joshua couldn't help raising his voice. "Am I the only one concerned here!?"

"J, calm down." It was strange that it was Sho trying to ease Joshua's temper instead of the other way around, but the boy couldn't explain why he was so upset. There was something he just couldn't place his finger on, some fear he couldn't quite grasp. He knew it had something to do with this piece of memory that was missing-a piece even more disconcerting now that he realized it consisted of five days! No matter how hard he tried, however, that chunk of time consisted of nothing more than shadows and blurs. Why didn't Sho understand how weird this was?

"Sho, you don't remember how we got here."

"Yeah, we've been through this, radian."

Joshua sighed. "Yes, well, our dear friend Kariya just told me we been missing for five days."

"…You're out of your vector."

The two boys were startled as the older Reaper leapt off the stage to stand in front of them. "Hate to break it to ya, Pi-Face, but Wingless over here is right. Mitsuki's been going nuts."

"Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally… How the hell…"

Joshua almost smiled, glad someone finally understood that this _really_ was not okay.

"I… shit. I have to check on Jun. I can't… J, I gotta go." Joshua's smile faded as he looked at his friend with a pained expression. "J, I have to-look, we'll talk about it later. Promise, and all that. See ya." Then Sho looked through Joshua, and the boy realized his partner was already in the UG as he watched the black-capped teen run off.

All three paused as Kariya scrutinized Joshua's scowl. "Well. He's certainly got some obsessive tendencies, don't he?"

"I can tell you're hiding something from me, Kariya. You must know something about these five days I can't remember."

Kariya put his face right in front of Joshua's with a curious expression. "So. You really don't remember any part of the past five days?" Joshua crossed his arms and shook his head. "That's…weird."

"Understatement of the century. Daisuke, you said something about the higher-ups?"

Joshua wondered if Kariya was going to stop Doomy from answering him, but the orange haired man just kept licking his lollipop and staring at Joshua in interest.

"The higher-ups are leading us to despair. You two got rid of one, but more still corrupt the reapers and the city."

"That's enough Dai." He turned to Joshua, "I was hoping you would be able tell me more about that last game, actually. I know our new Conductor got in a lot of trouble after that."

Suddenly, Joshua remembered Mr. H's words from earlier, that the boys risked being "whisked away to the trial".

"The trial!" Joshua exclaimed. Kariya raised an eyebrow. "Sho and I, they took us to the trial for Megumi Kitaniji." As he spoke, at least one of the blurred figures became clearer. The red headphones and black sunglasses of the defendant were now visible as if they always had been.

Seeing Kariya's confused expression, Joshua quickly explained the entire matter of the heart pins that had gotten Kitaniji in trouble with those of the Higher Plane. Unfortunately, Joshua couldn't remember the content or the verdict of the trial itself. In addition, he did not mention this to Kariya, but there was another figure there as well… A girl, with light brown ringlets and a red lace gown. She was hysterical, constantly changing the subject of the trial to the erasure of the Conductor. The other beings there, the ones who he still couldn't focus on, attempted to console her. They tried to get her back on task, but throughout the trial she flashed Sho and Joshua those looks of pure loathing. And every time she looked at him, he was reminded of those days when the music struck and knifed and pulled out his brains, as if subliminal notes had been placed in that music just for him to hear. Just to drive him crazy.

"They're leading us to the end. Breaking their own laws, creating illegal pins. It's a sign." Daisuke said with a nod.

"Sure, Dai. But this is definitely interesting… I knew there was something weird about Kitaniji. It'd be interesting to see what Sho thinks of this. Your memories really aren't that complete, and it's possible if you prompt him a bit more he may remember more too."

Joshua frowned. "I'd rather not say anything to him right now."

"Aw, c'mon. Sure, every partner's got their quirks." He gestured towards Doomy Dai, "but ya gotta forgive them for those. They wouldn't be your partner without them, and he wouldn't be your friend if he wasn't himself, right?"

Joshua toyed with his hair. He realized there was decades of experience behind that advice, or else Kariya wouldn't be famous for taking in every new un-partnered Reaper under his wings. "I suppose you're right."

"Then go after your partner, Wingless."

"I have a name. Joshua. And his name's not Pi-Face-it's Sho."

Kariya laughed into his lollipop. "A'ight then. Good luck finding Sho, Joshua."

Joshua smiled and scrambled after his partner.


	7. Dammit Joshua

Joshua stood on the doorstep of Sho's house on Cat Street. He was grateful for the large kanji "Minamimoto" that decorated the mailbox, for without it he probably never would've figured out which of the small squished houses was correct.

He was aware that Sho may no longer be here, as Joshua didn't exactly run all the way to Cat Street. Still, it was worth a shot. With this thought in mind, he pushed open the peeling white door.

The house was small, to say the least. In the narrow room was somehow squished a kitchen area; a table and chairs now folded up against the wall; a couple of tall, slender cabinets; a toilet behind a screen; a staircase; a television the size of Joshua's head; a beat-up couch; and a mildly obese, balding, middle-aged man passed out drunk on the floor.

At the top of the staircase was a very small landing that led to two rooms about half the size of the one downstairs. The right-hand room held a doodling child.

"What have you got there, Jun?"

Sho's little brother seemed to have no qualms about the white-haired boy suddenly appearing over his shoulder. He smiled at him. He gestured to his drawing, which seemed to consist of an Abraham Lincoln-esque figure riding a monster truck. "This is Sho at work."

"What does he do?" Joshua was genuinely curious what story could inspire such a picture.

"He's a garbageman. He says he'll make sure Minamimoto can't throw us out in the trash again. He's so cool!"

"Yes, he is really cool, isn't he?" A thought suddenly entered Joshua's head. He couldn't tell if he was jealous of Sho for having a family member that loved him so much or just bitter from being abandoned earlier that day, but Joshua no longer wanted to just grill Sho for information. Besides, he'd left his brother alone. Sho should have been more responsible.

"So, that's what he told you… How interesting." Joshua kept his tone light and innocent.

Jun nodded, looking slightly perplexed. "What's interesting?"

"Well, Jun, I'm just shocked that he would lie to you about what he really does."

"Oh no, Sho would never lie to me".

Joshua let the smirk escape his face. "Of course he would. He clearly doesn't trust you with the truth. After all, you are only a child."

"I'm six years old, I'm not a kid. Stop it."

"Stop what?" Joshua paused lengthily between the words, drawing them out just to get a reaction from the younger boy. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have told you, Sho probably didn't want you to know."

The boy sniffled. "Why wouldn't he want me to know? He never kept secrets from me. Why would he do this? Tell me… Please."

"Oh, Jun, I couldn't. You're clearly not supposed to know about it. You want me to go against your brother's wishes?"

Jun nodded after a pause, and Joshua wasn't sure what to do. To be perfectly honest, he'd only intended to stir up some trouble and make Sho look bad. He had planned to slip out after merely upsetting the boy and let Sho deal with the aftereffects. But now there was an opportunity here to further his revenge even more. The living were not supposed to know about the Reaper's Game, but Joshua himself was an exception to that rule. So, why not?

"Are you absolutely certain?"

Jun appeared to be thinking hard, and then nodded fiercely again. His faces were so adorable it was making the entire situation even more gratifying.

He smiled softly at him. "All right then. Well, Jun, do you know what happens when we die?"

The child smiled back. He _knew_ this one! "They go up to heaven with Mommy and Daddy and the Angels."

"That's right. How smart you are! But not everyone finds their way up there-especially not kids." He bopped the boy on the nose as he spoke the last word.

"Why not?" Jun said with a giggle.

"Because kids' imaginations are so big they aren't always paying attention, so they get lost on the way."

The little boy looked horrified now. "What happens to them?"

"They play a game, the Reaper' s Game. If they win, then they don't even go to heaven until later because they are allowed to come back to life."

"Wow! So, what does Sho do?"

Joshua tried to keep his face as calm as possible, but that darn smirk kept on coming out, so he tried playing with his hair to distract himself. "He is one of the Reapers that the game is named after. His job is to stop as many of the kids from coming back to life as possible. He destroys them so that they no longer exist."

"And then…" Jun shifted his feet uneasily, "they get to go to heaven?"

The older boy shook his head. "They don't go anywhere. They don't exist. Gone. Poof. Zero." He added the last word wondering if the family history would make the boy more receptive to math references. It seemed that word wasn't necessary though, because he already seemed to be about ready to have a conniption.

It's possible Jun may have argued with Joshua over the truth about his brother, but they did not get that chance. For, ironically, Sho appeared from the UG in the doorway.

He didn't even seem to notice something was amiss, tossing a bag of fast food onto the bed and looking excited to see the two spending time together.

That excitement quickly faded when Jun recoiled from Sho's touch.

"Jun? Hey, wha's wrong? It's me." He reached towards his brother's head, most likely seeking to ruffle his hair or something of that sort, but Jun ducked behind Joshua for protection. Needless to say, Joshua found the entire situation hilarious and tried to stifle his giggles.

Sho glanced from one boy to the other. "What in the name of Pythagoras is goin' on here?"

Apparently Jun had no intention of answering, however, for he simply bore his face deeper into Joshua's upper back. Joshua held up his hands in a mock shrug as Sho continued to stare at them dumbfounded. He clearly did not suspect anything was Joshua's doing. A few more moments passed of a concerned older brother continuously reaching out towards his shaking younger brother, and the middle child began to lose patience.

He turned back towards Jun and gently removed the hands covering his eyes. "Jun," he whispered softly, "you need to be a big boy and let someone know why you are upset with them." Jun nodded through teary eyes. Joshua never realized he was this good at manipulating children.

"You… You're scary. You take those poor kids trying to come back to life and you make them go poof." He gestured emphatically with his hands.

Realization dawned on Sho's hurt face as he glared at the only person in the room who could have told his brother this.

Joshua quickly weighed his options. He could try to explain himself, but he'd meant to leave long ago, and there really was no respectable way out this. And with that look on Sho's face… Joshua slipped into the UG and raced down the stairs, but someone pushed him the rest of the way.


	8. Surprise!

'Ello folks! Sorry for the delay in the next chapter. Family things, sure you can imagine. Well, without further ado, I present to you the continuation of Joshua screwing up everything!

SLAM. The force of a large body behind him, and Joshua found himself crumpled in a heap at the bottom of stairs. A strong part of him wanted to remain there groaning and looking pitiful until someone helped him, but then he remembered the reason for his flight.

Panic time.

He scrambled to stand, or at least he tried, but there was a sharp shooting pain in the forearm and elbow he had used to protect his head.

Footsteps.

Run.

The pain in his arms faded to a dull throb. He attempted to rise, but he reached him first.

"J? Shit, J, you all right?"

Arms dragged Joshua to his feet. Concerned and guilty eyes with only a tinge of anger looked him up and down. "I was trying to-I _wasn't_ trying to… You okay?"

"You're not mad?" Joshua said incredulously.

"What, 'bout you telling Jun the truth? Shoulda done it myself. You just," Sho paused, smiling at Joshua as if he were a child as blameless as Jun. "You didn't know how to break it to him like I would. I just need to give him T plus X, and then I'll explain it to him later. Don't worry about it."

Joshua absentmindedly rubbed his elbow. It didn't seem to be broken, thankfully. His jealousy and anger seemed to have been shoved out of him at the top of the stairs, and now he just felt like a moron. Here he was trying to get back at Sho just for caring about his brother, and yet, his partner wasn't even mad at Joshua for turning his brother against him. What was he even thinking? Sho may be his partner, but unlike in the past, he didn't have his friends all to himself. He needed to accept that.

Sho's smile had faded as Joshua sunk into a reverie. He was probably considering whether or not he would need to haul Joshua over to the hospital. "I'm fine."

Sho didn't look 100% convinced, but he nodded. "'Kay. Then let's bounce."

The two Reapers slipped into the UG. As they left the rickety house, Joshua snorted as he noted that Sho's stepfather hadn't moved an inch. He meant to comment on it, but then he remembered what he really wanted to talk to Sho about.

"Sho. Remember what we were talking about with Kariya?"

"Yeah, that the trial lasted zetta five days. And it sounded like no one else knew where we were, right?"

Joshua grinned. "So, you do remember."

Sho adjusted his cap. "Well, now that you mention it, s'not too clear."

"Do you remember the girl?"

"The curly hectopascal? Yeah, I remember her. She was out of her vector. Thought she was going to snap our necks if she had the chance. And what was she trying to do to you?"

"To me?"

"Yep, she would give you this crazy intense stare and then get all frustrated like something wasn't working."

Joshua fiddled with the pin Mr. H had given him. "I remember that too. Sho, do you know what the Composer is?"

Sho waved his pointed fingers in front of his face dramatically as he hummed.

"Not quite," Joshua said with a giggle, "that's the Conductor."

"Thanks for the music lesson, radian."

"Pay attention, this is actually important." Both boys tried to put a serious expression on, but both failed as Sho continued to mimic a melodramatic conductor.

Joshua covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Okay, okay, listen now. The Composer is in charge of the UG. Remember when Mr. H… Explained about the music in everything?" Sho nodded. "Good, so the Composer both creates and controls the music."

The older boy caught on immediately. "So Curly was trying to iterate you with the music again. She's the Composer."

"I believe so. And I suppose her ranting and raving about her Conductor's erasure explains why she has a beef with two new Reapers." Joshua crossed his arms, "but this still doesn't explain everything. I can't remember the end of the trial, any decisions made… I don't even know if we're in danger."

"Don't look at me. That's all I remember."

The partners stopped and thought for a moment. Not sure who came up with the first, but it was Joshua who spoke the name in both their heads.

"Megumi Kitaniji."

"He'd have to remember the trial-it was 'bout him."

"And, as the second highest ranking Reaper, his _job_ is to be in contact with the Composer."

"Thanks to your bad ass threatening skills, that yoctogram owes us a favor anyway."

"He could protect us."

Joshua and Sho smiled at each other before heading off to the Shibuya River. The trip was fairly uneventful, other than Joshua's grumbling he should have remembered to change shoes before charging through the sewers. At least, that was the case until they reached the fancy wrought iron door.

"Finally." She nearly purred, but it was most definitely not a friendly sound. She stood in front of the door glaring and yet still somehow smiling at them both. "Do you know what I have gone through to search for you boys?"

"Out of our way, factoring hectopascal."

"Imbecile. Don't you think you should be apologizing?"

"We need to talk to Mr. Kitaniji." Joshua said with a slight bow of his head.

Mitsuki seemed much more receptive to Joshua's forced submissiveness. "Well, that's not allowed. Mr. Kitaniji is an important meeting right now."

A shout came from the other side of the door, but Mitsuki did not even flinch. After a few moments, Mitsuki's phone beeped. "You've come just in time. Wait right here." She opened the door just a crack and slipped through.

Joshua sighed. "Do you really think she'll let us see him?"

"Irrational. I get the feeling she wants us for somethin' else."

Soon, they heard the creak as the giant door opened again, and the blonde Reaper crept back out the door. For a second, Joshua detected surprise and a tinge of revulsion in her eyes. Yet as Mitsuki's stare met that of the boys', all emotion disappeared.

"Congratulations. I have a mission for you straight from the Conductor himself."

"That's nice, but it's vital that we talk to the Conductor."

Mitsuki pushed her glasses up her nose. "It's possible you may have an audience with him once you complete your mission."

"Whaddya need from us? The next game doesn't start for another two weeks." Sho grumbled.

Mitsuki laughed derisively. "What, did you think that Reapers sat around slurping Ramen and buying clothes on their days off? Do your job, and do your mission. Do I make myself clear?"

"What _is_ this mission?"

"You are to exterminate a Reaper."


	9. Sign Here For Erasure Please

They were given a name, two possible locations, and a brief description.

Hayabe Tanomura.

Frequents the arcade and the mural at Udagawa.

Long black ponytail past his waist. Red hoodie that looks just like a support Reaper's except for the giant black skull design in front.

They were supposed to kill him. Well, erase. Joshua was very particular about details.

At the younger partner's behest, they first checked the arcade. They didn't get very far though, as the establishment seemed to be installing some new sort of gaming table involving pins.

"It's gonna be big…" The arcade owner whispered.

Joshua had his doubts.

Due to the construction, most of the arcade was closed off. Many of the classic arcade games were still open, though, so they examined the area. No ponytail, no red hoodie.

"Is it really necessary for us to go to Udagawa?"

Sho stared at the younger boy. "You got something against Udagawa recently?"

Josh only looked at his feet, shifting them uneasily. He was hoping to appeal to Sho's older brother instincts by acting childish. "Sho, I don't wanna do this. I don't want to kill anybody."

"Some Old Horses…" Sho muttered. Either Joshua wasn't as convincing as he thought, or Sho knew him too well. "I been watching you. You didn't have any problem with this mission until the Iron Maiden mentioned that spot. Now you tell me what the factor is your problem, or I'm leaving you to explain to her Iron Frostiness why we couldn't complete this mission."

Joshua sighed and crossed his arms. "You got me. I really, really, truly don't want to go."

"Didn't we just go there last week?"

"Yeah, but it's not like I could have seen anything anyway."

Sho adjusted his hat. "You gonna tell me what's goin' on?"

Joshua threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. "Never mind. It's no big deal. Let's just go." Sho nodded, but he obviously wasn't convinced.

"You tell me later."

"Sure."

Joshua tried to imagine what the Udagawa back streets looked like through Sho's eyes.

Litter and skidmarks covered the place. Loud, boisterous music sounded from Wild Boar. And a lone skater practiced on the rails of the first staircase.

Closer to the mural was a boy. The boy had earbud wires sticking out of his orange spiky hair as he ignored everyone around him.

Seen through Sho's eyes, he was just a boy.

But he wasn't alone. Joshua curled his hands into fists as he noticed the six winged red hoodie sitting unbelievably close to Neku as if he wanted to catch some of the beats. Judging by the blurriness of the smaller boy and the sharpness of the man, Joshua understood that Tanomura, like them, was in the UG. Neku had no idea that there was a man listening to his music with him.

Tanomura turned around as he heard the pair approaching. He raised a hand in a casual wave. "Well, if it isn't Pi-Face and Josh- can I call you Josh? He usually did." The ponytailed Reaper jabbed his thumb through Neku.

Sho looked concerned at the sudden change in Joshua's demeanor. "Get away from him!" The white-haired boy yelled.

"J, what the factor?"

Tanomura stretched his arms lazily above his head. "Tone it down a hair, Josh. I just like the kid's taste. Always have."

"What do you mean, _always have_?" Joshua nearly hissed.

"Kid's got good taste." Tanomura shrugged. "Hey, calm your tits. Well, guess I owe you an explanation, huh?"

Joshua began playing with his hair to focus on anything other than the infuriating nature of this Reaper who was so close to Neku.

"This mural, it's got a message in it. Oh, I guess I shouldn't talk about that. Well, anyway, you, me, and Neku here were all drawn to this mural for a reason. I came to check it out one day and what did I find? Two kids giving each other the cold shoulder. I kept comin' by just to see the mural, but then I saw you two getting closer. And I thought, 'well ain't that just the cutest thing?' And then you two would always listen to the best music, so I had all these reasons to stick around in the UG and hang. You understand?"

Sho looked from Tanomura to Neku to Joshua. "SOHCAHTOA. I never stop talking about Jun, but here you factoring-"

Joshua did not let his partner finish. "Mr. Tanomura. We're here on a mission from Megumi Kitaniji."

"My man Meg? Oh, how is the good ole' Conductor doing? Never see him anymore since he got that promotion."

"You're friends?" Sho asked.

Tanomura laughed and stood up. "Hell yeah. Meg was my partner."

Joshua would be lying to say he wasn't slightly disturbed by that information. And of course, that same emotion was written all over Sho's face. The boys exchanged glances, not sure who should speak first.

"What's with those faces? Can't see me and snake guy runnin' around as kids? Well, believe it. Once we became Reapers, they told us it's better to make pacts with our shadows. Not that that stopped you- hey, I don't judge. But we still went on Player hunts together. Good times. We became Officers around the same time as well. But now since he became Game Master and then Conductor he's been way busy. Kinda sucks." He looked at the younger Reapers who looked increasingly troubled with every word he said. "So, uh, what's Meg want with me?"

Sho muttered something along the lines of "son of an isosceles…" And Joshua merely thought. He didn't like being made to do dirty jobs, especially when he wasn't sure the reason behind such a strange request. But there was information he wanted, and who knows what would be done to them if they failed in their mission. Is this how they disposed of uncooperative Reapers? He didn't want find out what they would do to _them_ if they disobeyed.

"Mr. Kitaniji sent us to erase you."

Tanomura laughed awkwardly. "Never really pegged ya as a joker, Josh."

"Radian's not joking." Sho said without meeting the other Reaper's eyes. "We really are supposed to- well, you get it."

Tanomura sat down shakily next to Neku, who faced the opposite way and was ever oblivious to what was going on. "Well. How do you like that?"

The partners stood in silence as the ponytailed Reaper continued to laugh bleakly. "So this is what I get. I support him and help rise through the ranks for years, and this is my thanks. He writes me off for a couple weeks and then sends his lackeys over to put Hayabe out to pasture. Good old Meg."

"Mr. Tanomura. We do have a mission." Sho glowered at this.

"Of course." The six-winged Reaper rose slowly, "Well, I'll have to return Meg's message with one of my own. But I can't promise I won't kill the messengers."

And with that, Joshua and Sho found themselves thrust into the Noise Plane.

Joshua had never seen the Noise Plane before, so he found nothing wrong with taking some time to examine his surroundings before he continued the battle. Although, to be perfectly honest, it didn't look that much different from the rest of Udagawa. It seemed to be a parallel universe. The only difference is that there seem to be quite a lot of Joshuas running around. Albeit the face was covered in a white and red mask, but he would still recognize that curly white hair anywhere, as well as those lovely clothes the kind salesperson at Edoga had picked out for him.

But there was no way that these imitations could be him, as he would never be running around so aimlessly. If he was running all.

Joshua watched as Tanomura placed a mask on his face and then morphed into a fox which morphed into perfect replica of Joshua. Then, as if he was some science textbook illustration of mitosis, he began splitting off into various other Joshuas.

"A lot of you or a lot of me?" Sho's mind voice sounded a bit gruff and exasperated.

"Me." Joshua answered matter-of-factly. "Look for some sort of distinguishing quality, whether physical or behavioral. There's got to be something."

Joshua tried to follow his own advice, but it seems Tanomura was very good at making these copies. The worst part was that every so often one of them would rush him with thick claws or nibble on him with the fangs. They would stay just long enough for him to shove them away and then they would run back and continue darting around the Plane.

Needless to say, Joshua was starting to get a bit tired of this nonsense. He pulled out his orange cell phone and began attacking Fox Joshuas at random. They disappeared once they were crushed, but this strategy really couldn't narrow them down fast enough, as the remaining ones would continue multiplying.

"I found him." And Joshua could feel Sho's excitement as he focused his strength on the true Tanomura.

After a few moments, Sho seemed frustrated again, "Hectopascal got away. Got a few good hits on him though. His mask was a little off center."

Joshua was impressed. How could he have seen that from so far away? Even with his restored vision, Joshua wasn't sure if he could pay that much attention to detail. But he could try.

He stood on his tip toes, knowing full well that heart pin would have been welcomed now. Was that one- no. That one was just the same as the others. How on earth was he supposed to do this?

He began walking through the hordes of swarming Joshuas, fending off their attacks as he moved.

There.

He found it. The mask wasn't off-center in this plane, but had slightly different coloring. He began madly jamming buttons into his cell phone. He realized that at some point he would really have to pay attention to which button did what now that he could see. But there was no time for that now so he aimed for the discolored Fox.

The 10-year-old let out an undignified whoop as the safe connected with the true Tanomura. The others disappeared. With that encouragement, Joshua began attacking him with raining objects again and again until Tanomura recovered enough to send out his clones again.

Rinse and repeat.

The flight was extremely frustrating as the difference changed every time. It seemed he wasn't leavng these clues it on purpose- at least, Joshua hoped that this Reaper Officer wasn't so weak as to go easy on them.

Every once in a while either Joshua or Sho would call excitedly in the other's mind about how they had found where Tanomura was hiding.

Finally, with Tanomura fading, they were returned to the UG.

The boys watched helplessly as they successfully completed their mission.

"I- I don't understand. Meg, what did I do?"

And he faded from existence

Hello friends! Well, on that happy note, hope you accept my apology for this chapter being a tad late. Family issues, possible divorces 25 years in the making, you know how it is. It's hard to find time to write this, although it's a great way to keep my mind off stuff. All right, enough about me. Poor Tanomura. I kind of liked him. Even though Joshua really, really didn't. More about Joshua's awful attitude about Neku coming. Anyway, please read and review and I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter!


	10. Joshua Loves To Hear Himself Talk

A padlock and multiple chains clawed their way over the wrought iron door that led to the Dead God's Pad.

"Well, so much for talking to Kitaniji." Joshua crossed his arms. He probably should have expected this.

"They out of their vectors?" Joshua detected something in Sho's voice, something that made him feel somewhat unsafe. "We did all that for…"

"Sho. We did what we had to."

But Sho grabbed the chains in his fists, shaking them as hard as he himself trembled. "Someone better open this zetta fucking door or-"

The ping of their cell phones was barely audible over Sho's shouts.

"Thanks for your service." The boys read. The text was signed with a Smiley face alone.

Sho growled as if he was still in his noise form. "That's all those yoctograms are gonna give us?"

"Shame after we went through all the trouble of completing their silly errand."

Sho regarded Joshua with disgust. "Errand? You… That's it. I'm done with this garbage."

"Sho?"

"I'm serious, J. I'm no hitman. I'm no assassin. I ain't doing this anymore. I quit."

He melted into the RG to try to escape, but Joshua followed after him.

"Sho! You can't be serious! Sho!"

But Joshua was never able to keep up with Sho's speed. Before they had even left the sewers, the older boy had disappeared. He assumed that his partner had gone home, maybe to finally reconcile with his brother. Or perhaps he was just storming about the city angrily. Either way, Joshua knew better at this point. He would not go upset him further.

He hung around the door a little while longer, hoping to find some hole or kink in the chain. It seemed impenetrable. He sighed, leaning against the door.

It suddenly occurred to Joshua that this was the first time since he had become a Reaper that he had time to himself without any goal in mind. It was nice, realizing he was alone and didn't have any pressing matters or manipulations to take care of. Maybe it would be all right to let Sho calm down and just focus on himself for a little while.

Joshua walked slowly out into cavernous halls of Shibuya's underground. He took a few moments to admire the murals on the walls as he ambled. His thoughts went to Neku, sitting alone (for sure now, with Tanomura gone) in mourning. He knew he ought to talk to him, but he couldn't.

Even just considering speaking to Neku sent daggers of fear into his mind. Because there was a small part of Joshua that was as ashamed of what he and Sho were doing as his partner was. Sure, erasing the officer wasn't his first choice for a pleasurable activity, but he understood that certain sacrifices must be made in order to get what you want. Couldn't Sho understand that? Couldn't Neku understand that?

They wouldn't. And that was why he could never speak to Neku again.

* * *

But that didn't mean he wouldn't keep an eye out for him. Even eight months after he'd made that promise to himself, he still walked up the steps to Udagawa to watch the boy. Sometimes he would even sit as Tanomura had, leaning towards the transparent boy just enough that he could hear the earbuds without falling through him. Of course, Joshua noted that soon his dear old friend had bought (found? Stolen?) a pair of bulky purple headphones far too big for his eleven-year-old head. He would grow into them eventually, Joshua assumed. For now, though, it just made the white-haired boy snicker.

He would not tell anyone this, not even Sho, but he often talked to Neku in the UG. He would rant to him about his life, about the difficulties of being a Reaper, about Sho. And Neku, wordlessly bobbing his head along to the music and drumming his fingers on a rail, appeared to be the best listener.

He tested himself at that spot as well. It was in the back streets of Udagawa that he taught himself how to properly use his cell phone. Granted, he already was doing quite well with button mashing, but he really preferred to know what he was doing.

It came in handy those scarce few times that Sho needed to fill a quota. For the older teen only chose to complete the bare minimum requirements to stay alive as a Reaper, never losing his hatred of what he was and what he was meant to do. Joshua supposed it was a rather contradictory and frustrating existence that the other boy led. He wanted to help Sho so that he could actually enjoy this afterlife. He wanted Sho to stop pretending to still be alive living with his brother.

To be perfectly honest, Joshua feared he would lose his friend. It was already clear that Sho disproved of Joshua's acceptance of his role as a Reaper. He wanted to remind Sho of what a great team they were, what a powerful duo they would continue to be if they tried. But Sho was no longer interested in pushing his limits.

And if they were to spend time together, Jun would most likely be involved.

So Joshua hung out with Neku.

It wasn't like he had much to worry about. The Composer seemed to have dropped off the radar after her revenge mission- for naturally Joshua had figured out the connection between the screaming curly-haired girl wailing her friend's name at the trial and the confused expression of Tanomura as he learned his game partner had ordered his death. A friend for a friend? Joshua had told Sho about this, but this only made his friend more disillusioned with the Reapers as he learned he had been used to kill for other's gain twice.

But today wasn't about Sho, and it certainly wasn't about enjoying Neku's music.

He began the day with that, though. It helped calm his nerves. Then he stood in front of the mural, Neku at his back. He gripped the cold metal in his hands, not truly ready to rip it off.

But he did anyway.

As soon as the green pin was dropped, Joshua was drowning.

In a way, it was almost like scanning with the player pin. Except, instead of choosing to listen to a specific person's thoughts, he was bombarded with those of everyone around. And instead of only hearing what was on their mind at the time, Joshua was exposed to the raw, naked fabric of their existence swirling around his ears.

There were so many people, there was so much music all wanting to be heard, all demanding, all commanding, all at once, and something was protruding from his back and there was so much pain, so much power, and everyone's sounds and tunes warping together into this monstrous cacophony that there was no way to block out, no way out, no way to stop it, he was lost, he was nothing, he was no one, he was engulfed by all of them everywhere and there was no-

Joshua found himself on the hard concrete. His forearm had just barely brushed the pin after he had collapsed.

He lay there for a few moments, rediscovering his breath and his resolve. One was found sooner than the other.

From the ground, he rolled over and craned his neck up to check on Neku. To his surprise, the boy appeared disturbed. He didn't look at Joshua-he clearly wasn't aware of his friend's presence, but Neku had still been able to sense his distress.

A faint smile danced over Joshua's lips. Now that was interesting.

He finally pushed himself up on his wobbly legs. He would try again, but not today. He wasn't sure his body or his mind could take it. But he would try again, and he would be able to handle the music at some point.

Exhausted, Joshua felt he had no choice but to return to his current home. Not the house he grew up in, of course. Even invisible, he would never step foot in that place again. Too proud to sleep on the streets, Joshua was forced to do what many Reapers lacking their own homes often did.

He pulled open the wooden door quietly, not wanting to disturb the household with any strange activity. He crept up the stairs, having learned by now which ones creaked and which ones didn't. His face lit up at the sight of his bed. He collapsed almost instantly. And when the real owner of this bed fell through him a few hours later, the incorporeal Reaper didn't even notice.

The next morning, Joshua stole only a small amount of food from this house. He knew he would have to start looking for a new home to occupy. The family was starting to question the loss of their food and the occasional door left mysteriously open.

But that wasn't his priority today. The eleven-year-old found himself back on the streets of Udagawa. Climbing the stairs past a couple of practicing skaters, the orange hair of Neku came into view. But he was not going to listen to any of Neku's music right now. Now it was time to more or less torture himself.

The metal clinked as the pin hit the ground. That sound faded quickly as it was overwhelmed by the music of thousands of souls living very distinct but closely intertwined lives. Joshua was dimly aware he was on his knees, wings slowly erupting. He may have been screaming, but that may have just been another part of this insane beat.

He counted the seconds he was able to tolerate this madness.

Five... Six… Seven… Eight-

Too much. It was all too much. He was disappearing again, losing his identity among these thousands aching to be heard. He reached out and grabbed the pin.

At least he had done better that time.

And he would do better. He would. He had to.

And five weeks and three days later, he did do better. He did great. In fact, he had spent a large chunk of time listening and understanding the music this time. He could discern an individual person from the tune, learning their desires and strengths and weaknesses and traits from the way the notes played. He couldn't affect their music in any way though-he could only listen. The first person he "explored" fully in a musical way was Neku. His music was quite dichotomous. Despondent, lonely tones mingled non-harmoniously with unconventional, persistent beats. And there was something else there twirling its way through underneath those other two sections. Something he couldn't quite place, but something he filed away in his brain for later.

For, as he was growing more confident in his own abilities, he'd had an idea.

He'd been so worried he would lose Sho as a friend, as a Reaper, and as a partner if he didn't do something. He hadn't known what. But now he had a thought, a plan to give Sho that little push to remind him why they work so well together and why he shouldn't give up on his amazing potential.

Just a little push.

* * *

Hello Friends!

Hope you are enjoying this last chapter of Reaper Days (which I may be changing to a Japanese name…that or Yuki NoYouni Shiroi is becoming White as Snow.) Anyway, for convenience purposes I'll keep posting the few chapters of this next story as part of Reaper Days, so keep your eyes peeled for the first chapter of Kami no Akai Yuki (God's Red Snow).

On that note, it may be quite a while before this comes out. I'm hesitant to announce a hiatus, because knowing me I'll have the next chapter up in a few days and then disappear for four months without warning. So I'll put out the warning now: due to family things and returning to school, I will be writing with extreme infrequence. You have been cautioned.

And now for something completely different, thoughts on what Joshua plans to do "for" Sho?


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